One of the best simple pleasures of life I think is watching children enjoy reading. Yesterday, we found a new Animal Joke book at a garage sale. Autumn read jokes from the book for such a long time. She and Sami laughed and laughed. They laughed even when they didn't understand what the joke was really about.
Another seemingly unrelated story from yesterday... my husband and I watched the new Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp. He was curious about it and someone he knew had liked it. In the end, we just thought it was a bad movie. It was really warped and dark--even the light was dark. As I went to sleep, I wondered what was missing from the movie. Even the white queen--the kind and good queen--seemed to be missing something. I think she was missing love. In the Word, it says that...
I Corinthians 13:1-3
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
Without love, kindness is nothing. Wisdom is nothing. Power is nothing. Humor is nothing.
We don't let our kids watch a lot of movies or public television. We've felt for a long time that what children watch teaches them what is funny. If you show children adult humor then they will laugh--because they want to laugh with you--not because they understand what is funny. Alice in Wonderland is an adult's movie. It is not one I would recommend for children. I didn't see anything beneficial in a child watching it. Potty humor is at someone's expense. It is without love.
Two unrelated things that have a strange connection... Without love, something is nothing.
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